Video: New boat, equipment to aid in search for Stacy Peterson

Monday

On Saturday, searchers for Stacy Peterson will unveil the "Stacy Ann," a 14-foot flat-bottom boat the group is using to clear blue barrels from the Des Plaines River.

For the seven months Stacy Peterson has been missing, friends and family of the missing Bolingbrook mom have searched tirelessly for clues to her whereabouts.

The scenery always changes, but whether they are fielding tips, scouring fields, or trolling in waterways, the goal of those close to the missing woman remains the same; to find their loved one and find closure.

"We want to bring her home so we can give her a proper burial and bury her with the dignity and respect she deserves," Peterson's friend Sharon Bychowski said last month.

The group's latest challenge has come in the form of the Des Plaines River, which is filled with barrels of all shapes, sizes and colors, including blue ones similar to one described by a relative of Peterson’s husband, who is also a suspect in her disappearance.

Last weekend, several searchers, with the help of a new boat purchased with fundraiser money, rode along 10 miles of the river, checking each barrel for possible evidence and then pulling it out of water for recycling later.

"That one over there is freaking me out," Taylor said Sunday, May 18, as a dark blue, 35-gallon barrel emerged.

The barrel fit the description provided by Tom Morphey, the step-brother of Peterson’s husband Drew. Shortly after Peterson disappeared on Oct. 28 at the age of 23, Morphey’s friend Walter Martineck told police that Morphey came to his home the night of the disappearance claiming he had just helped his step-brother dispose of Peterson’s body in a blue barrel.

Since news of the report broke, Taylor said the family’s tipline has gotten dozens of E-mails from people saying they spotted a blue barrel in the Des Plaines River. Searchers had been checking and marking the barrels but the tips kept coming in about the same barrels.

Rather than waste time, energy and resources going out to check on the tips, searchers decided to clear the river of them entirely. Taylor said the group has found a company willing to donate a small amount money for each pound of plastic brought in for recycling.

“I wish I’d find Stacy,” Taylor said. “But we’re doing a good thing by clearing all these barrels out of here. It’s a win-win.”

Last weekend, Taylor and several volunteers cleared more than two dozen barrels out of 10 miles on one side of the river.

“There’s only a few that matched similar to the barrel we’re looking for but all it takes is one to find her,” Taylor said.

Taylor hopes to eventually clear 140 miles on each side of the river. On Saturday, that goal will become more attainable when the group equips the boat with high-tech sonar equipment on loan from Dennis and Tammy Watters, an Alton-based husband and wife duo who have spent countless hours using their sonar skills to help find missing persons.

Their sonar equipment will allow search teams to scan the river for any evidence that may be underwater, making the search process quicker and more efficient.

But before the volunteers continue the search, the group will hold an event Saturday to officially unveil the "Stacy Ann," the 14-foot flat-bottom boat the searchers have been using for the grim task of checking every barrel found in the Des Plaines River. After the unveiling the Watters will hold a sonar demonstration. The event will be held at noon Saturday at Mugz's Hideout, 24045 W. Front St., in Channahon.

Employees at Mugz's Hideout agreed to host the event after searchers docked at the location during a search last weekend. Mugz's employee Cathy McGurk said she was happy the establishment could help the search for Peterson.

"As soon as [Taylor] came and asked if it was O.K. [to use the dock], I said, 'Well yeah,'" McGurk said. "Maybe it'll inspire others to come out here and help. He just made me more aware. You cannot forget."

Suburban Life

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